Creating Shaped Vignettes in Photoshop

One of my students asked me how I go about creating vignettes that were specifically shaped to my subject matter. So I recorded a quick video showing the techniques I use to do so. I thought you might want to see it as well, so here it is!

[Make sure to watch it all the way through, as in the ending section I talk about the use of the curves tool as a much better and more natural mechanism for creating the vignette effect; the common use of an overlay layer can produce less natural looking vignettes]

One Comment

Hi Wes! I’m loving this tip! And it’s bringing to mind various photos from the past that I’d like to go back and re-edit, since I was never happy with how the vignette looked. I’ve only ever really used the tool in Lightroom.